Wheeled plow.



PATENTED JUNE 11, 1907. A. B. PRBNIBR. WHEBLED PLOW. APPLICATION FILED DIE-0.17, 1903. RENEWED NQYJO, 1906.

4 SHEETSSHEET 1.

. No. 856,240. PATENTED JUNE 11, 1907.

A. BLFRENIER.

WHEELED PLOW. APPLiGA'IIOE mm) 1330.17.1908. nmwnwnn Nov.1o. 1906.-

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

' I IIIIIIIIIIJ J z wmmmwm clhlililifi STATEd MEN? rrron.

WHEELED Prowl.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 11, 1907.

Application filed December 17, 1908. Renewed November 10, 1906. Serial No. 342.906.

To 1; Ir/mm ff may concern:

Be it known that l, ALBERT B. FRENIER, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Davenport, Scott county, Iowa, hero invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Wheeled Flows, .of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to wheeled plows in general, but more particularly to that type of plow in whicn a suitably wheeled body-frame is provided, and in which the plow and beam are adjustshly supported from the said bodyframr.

in application No. 185,470 of even date herewith, l have elected to claim my invention broadly, while in the present-application I have claimed only the hereinafter described spe ific form of my invention. In practice, I find that for some purposes and with some users the construction disclosed in my said other application is preferable, while for other purposes and with other users the construction herein shown and described is preferable.

Generally stated, the object of my invention is to provide an improved arrangement of foot-levers for lifting and depressing .the plow. i

A special object is to provide a construction and arrangement whereby the two footlevers can be supported by a housing or bracket mounted on the.body-frame, rather than by the wheel axle and, if desired, employed in conjunction with a hand-lever mounted upon the land-side axle at a point adjacent to the land-side wheel.

It is also an. object to provide certain details and features of improvement tending to increase the general efficiency and serviceahility of a plow of this particular character.

To the foregoing and other useful ends, my invention consists in matters hereinafter set forth and claimod.

in the acconipnnvi'ng drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wheeled-plow embodying the principles of my invention, the plow being shown in its lowered working position. Fig.2 is a similar view, bu t showing the plow in an elevated position. Fig. 3 is a plan of the plow shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlsrged. side elevation of the double foot-lever arrangement for lifting and depressing the plow, showing the plow-beam in a depressed position. Fig.6 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but showing the plow-beam inan elevated position. Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail of the hub portion of the depressing foot-lever. Fig. 7 is an enlarged longitudinal section through the bearing sleeve for the rock-shaft upon which the lifting lever is mounted, and also through the hub portion of the depressing le ver, said shaft being shown in elevation. Fig;

8 is an enlarged detail view of the inner side of the toggle arm which constitutes a part of the toggleconnection between the plow-beam and the rock-shaft upon which the lever is mounted, showing the shoulders between which the lug on the depressing lever plays, this lug and the two shoulders constituting the aforementioned lost motion connection between the depressing lever and the rock shaft forraising and lowering the plow-beam.

As thus illustrated, the general construc tion of the plow involves the usual bodyframe .A, mounted upon su porting wheels B, C and D. The wheels and C are respectively front and rear furrowwhecls, of the usual and well known character, while the wheel D is the usual land-side wheel. The said forward furrow-wheel B is mounted on the lower outturned end portion of the stem 1), which latter extends upwardly through abracket bearing 6 secured to the body-frame. Thus, through the medium of the hand-lever E having a link connection e with a casting e fixed to the upper end of the said stem, the lever being pivoted to' the said bracket-bearing b, it is possible to manually raise and lower the forward portion of the body-frame upon the said furrow-wheel stem 1). The lever E can be provided with the usual spring-held locking device 6 adapted to engage a toothed-rack e secured to or rigid with the bracket bearing b. lfdesired, the rotary or oscillatory stem 0 can have its upper end connected with the stem of the forward furrow-wheel through the medium of a rod 0. The latter can have its forward end adapted to engage the slot 0 in the top casting e. With this arrange ment, the tongue F, which is secured in any suitable manner to the casting e, controls the forward furrow-wheel, and also, when the plow is running straight ahead, prevents turning or lateral play of the rear furrowwheel. But as soon. as the tongue is swung to one side, then the forward end of the rod 0 slides in the slot thereby releasing the rear furrow-wheel, and allowing the latter to turn or caster freely in the usual and well known manner. The drivers 'seat G can be secured to 01' supported upon the roar pornon of the body-frame in any suitable or desired manner.

The land-side wheel D is mounted upon the spindle carried at the end of-the crankupon the said land-side axle d, and provided with the usual lockin device adapted to engage the toothed rac h. The latter being rigidly secured to the bracket (1 constitutesthe means for rocking this land-side axle for the purpose of raising and lowering the bodyframe or swinging the plow, or throwing the plow out of the furrow. Preferably, as 1llustrated, the said lever H is yieldingly connected with the land-side axle through the medium of the spring h, which is mounted for compression between the crank-arm k rigidly secured to the land-side axle, and the part It suitably connected with the said lever. In this way, the lever, as stated, is secured to but has a yielding connection with the land-side axle, whereby, when the lever is locked in engagement with the. rack h, the land-side wheel is capable of more or less upand-down'movement relative to the bodyframe, so as to insure a cushioning action or effect when the land-side wheel passes over obstructions or uneven surfaces. Thus it will be seenthat, through the medium of the two hand-levers E and H, and their connections, respectively, with the forward furrow wheel and the land-side wheel, these two wheels can be controlled, each independently of the other, for the purpose of manipulating the plow in the well known manner, by reason of the raising and lowering of the 'for ward portion of the body-frame relatively to the said wheels.

The plow or implement I can be of any suitable, known or approved form, and can be provided with the usual plow-beam J. Also,- the plow can be hung from the bodyframe in any suitable known or approved manner. For example, the front and rear bails K and L, devices well known in the art, can be employed as a medium of swinging or shifting connection between the plow-beam and the body-frame; it being observed that these bails have their end portions mounted to turn in suitable hearings on the bodyframe, and having their forward or middle portions mounted to turn in suitable bearings on the plow beam. With this arrangement, the plow, in rising, swings up and slightly backward, and, in descending, swings down and sli htly forward.

The features thus far described are well known and do not, therefore, need any further description.

It is the double foot-lever arrangement for and, when the plow is in a depressed posipressing lever lifting and depressing the plow to which my invention relates; and, as previously stated, it is the specific construction of this arrangement, by which an arrangement of parts substantially different from that shown in my said other application, and by which different disposition of the means for rocking the land-side axle, are obtained, that is hereinafter described and claimed.

The bracket-bearing d is preferably rigid with the transversely disposed housing or bearing M. This housing or hearing, as illustrated, is sufficiently long to provide a bearing of suitable length for the rock-shaft N, which latter constitutes a part of the lifting and lowering connection between the plow-beam and the lifting foot-lever O. This ifting foot-lever is, 'it will be seen, rigidly secured to the outer end of said rock-shaft,

5 tion, projects rearwardly, as shown in the drawings. The other end of said rock-shaft is provided with a crank-arm n adapted to serve as part of the toggle connection be tween the said rock-shaft and the plow-beam. In other words, this crank-arm n and the link n, constitute a jointed or toggle-like connection between the rock-shaft and plow-beam. The lower-end of this toggle-like connection is pivoted to the plow-beam at M, preferably through the medium of a bracket-plate P. This bracket-plate is preferably adjustably mounted upon the plow-beam by reason of its being provided with slots through which are inserted the attaching bolts p. In this way, the said bracket late can be adjusted longitudinally of the p ow-beam for the purpose of insuring an accurate adjustment and disposition of the various parts and con nections. In order that the said toggle-like connection may buckle or break-joint readily in an upward direction, when the plow strikes a stone or other obstruction, the arm n is provided with an adjustable stop it adapted to bear against the forward or upper edge of the link n. Thus, by adjusting this stop in the proper manner, the said toggle-like connection can be prevented from straightening out to an extent .0 bring its joint or intermediate pivotal connection n to a point below the centerthat is to say, to an extent to prevent its joint from falling below a line drawn from the center of the roek shaft N through the pivotal point n With this provision, therefore, it is evident that the 1 0 said toggle-like connection does not positively lock the plow in the ground. The de- Q is, it will be seen, provided with a separate mounting, being formed with an enlarged hub-portion g, to turn or-oscillate upon the housing M. In I this way the depressing ,lever is loose melativerly to the rock shaft. When the plow is in the grouhd, this depressing lever projects forward, as shown in Fig. 4 an.d by refer- 3 which is mopnted 2 5 lever Q.

ring to Fig. 6, it will be seen that this depressin lever is provided with a lug g, adapte to project and play between the shoulders formed on' the hub-portion of the crank-arm n. ing lever cannot communicate any power or motion to the rock-shaft N, or to the plow.- beam through the toggle connection, until the'lost-Inotion is taken up, one way or the other. The hub portion of the depressing lever Q is provided with a rearwardly extending arm T, adapted, when the plow is lowered into the ground, to have-its rear end raised to a point slightly above the axis about which the depressing lever swings. In this way, the combined lifting and depressing spring R, which is connected between the forward portion of the body-frame and the said arm 9 through the medium of the bent link 1", can be employed as a means for not only assisting the lifting lever in raising the plow off from the ground, but also as a means or yieldingly maintaining the plow in the ground. The link 1" is, it will be observed, adapted to connect the rear end of the spring R with the arm (1 the link and arm being pivotally connected at their rear ends by means of bolts or pins 1'. With this prov1- sion, the plow is adapted to operate as a stone dodger, the tension of the spring R being sufiicient to keep the plow in the ground as long as no obstructions are encountered. The dc ressing lever is further provided,,prefer ab y, with a locking projection or hook which is rigidly mounted upon or formed integrally with the hub of said depressing foot-lever. This hook or locking projection g is adapted, when the plow is raised into the position shown in Fig. 5, to engage the lug or projection 29 on the bracket plate P. In

this way, the hook q and the lug p consti tute mutually engaging elements for locking the plow in its elevated position- The mode of operation is obvious: When it is desired to release the plow and allow the latter to descend to the ground, the driver exerts foot pressure upon the lever Q, thereby disengagmg the hook g from the lug p, so as to allow the plow to swing down; and, owing to the separate and independent mountings for the two foot-levers,'and the lost motion connection between the depressing footlever and the rock-shaft, without communieating any power or motion through the toggle-connection to the plow-beam. As soon as the locking device is thus unlocked, the weight of the plow is sufiicient to carry it down to the ground, the t nsion of the spring being counteracted by foot pressure on the When the plpw reaches the round, the continued foot-pressure on the ever Q takes up the lost motion between this lever' and the rock-shaft N, thereby enabling the spring R to shift from lifting to depressing position, as a'result of rnetion of the depress- In this way, the depress-v now tending to rotate the rock-shaft in a direction to straighten out the toggle-connection, and thereby force the plow into the ground. ing and independent action of the two footlevers not onl r )ermits the )low .to be un- 3' l locked from its e evated position without exerting any downward pressure on the plow through the toggle-connection, but it also permits the spring to be easily shifted from fting to depressing position. That is to say, the shifting of the spring from-lifting to depressing position, is accompanied by a free and independent movement on the part of the depressing lever. sired to lift the plow from the position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Fig. 5. In such case, the driver exerts a foot-pressure on the lifting lever 0, thereby causing the toggle-connection to exert an upward pull on the plow beam. The initial downward movement of the lifting footlever O, in this manner, is, it will be seen, sufficient to bring the pivotal connection '1" to a point conicident with or slightly below the aforementioned line drawn from the center'of the rock-shaft N to the point where the spring R is connected with the body-frame and when the pivotal point r is thus shifted to a point slightly below the center, so to speak, the spring R then instantly takes up the lostmotion between the hub portion of the depressing lever and the rock-shaft, and in so doing gives the arm (1? a substantial down. ward swing or movement relatively to the lifting lever. That is to say, the spring, when the low is started on its upward movemerit, su denly takes up the lost-motion,

and thereby avails itself of the increased leverage which results from' the quick shift of the arm (1 to a lower position. This, it Wlll be seen, makes it unnecessary for the lifting foot-lever to be swung downward to quite an extent in order to permit the spring to pull with sufficient ower to assist in lifting the low, the initia downward movement of the lifting lever being sufficient to establish such conditions as well as enable the spring to contribute materially to the power necessary for lifting the plow to its elevated osition. In other words, the liftin of the p ow and the shifting of the spring 01h depressing to lifting pos1tion, are necessarily, and advanln this way, the separate mount:

Now suppose it is de- LOO tageously accompanied by independent movement of the depressing lever relatively Lll to the lifting lever and toggle connection. A further depression of the foot-lever O 'to the position shown in Fig. 5, is sufficient to bring the locking hook into engagement with the lug p; and, owing to the relative arrangement of the different arts, it will be seen that the plow cannot t en be lowered unless foot-pressure is applied to the depressing lever Q.

' Thus it will be seen that I provide a simple and efficient double foot-lever arrangement for'lifting and lowering the plow, and combine the same with a combined lifting and depressing spring, whereby spring tension is employed bothfor lifting and depressing the plow. -Furthermore, with the foot-levers arranged as shown, the lever H for independently manipulating the land-side wheel, can' i depressing lever independently o the other lever,

and without communicating any power or motion to the plow through the toggle-like or other jointed connection; and,'further, this lostmction connection permits of a downward adjustment or movement on the part of the locking element,-which is rigid with the depressing lever, before any power or motion is communicated to the plow through the said toggle-like connection; but the shifting of the combined lifting and depressing spring, so that it will pull either above or below the center, as it may be desired to depress or lift the plow, is the principal object or function of the lost-motion connection; for while its' provision makes it somewhat easier to unlock the plow, it is obvious that the locking arrangement would be operative without the provision of any rela tive movement whatever between the two foot-levers.

With the provision of the combined lifting and depressing spring, the depressing lever is not necessarily a depressing device in the sense of permitting the plow to be manually pushed into the ground, as the function of the lever is merely to shift the spring, and lower its rigid locking element out of engagement with the lug on the plow-beam, the spring and. toggle constituting the means for pushing down on the plow as the plow-point catches and enters the ground.

mounted on said bearing and adapted for some movement independently of each other,

and a toggle-connection between the said lifting lever and the plow-beam, the two associated foot-levers"being axially alined and having a lost-motion connection between them, whereby-a portion rigid with the lift mg foot-lever constitutes medium of connection through which motion is'eommunicated from the depressing foot-lever to the plow.

2. A wheeled-plow comprising a bodyframe, supporting-wheels, a plow and beam niovably supported from the body-frame, a housing rigidly mounted upon the bodyframe, a rock-shaft mounted to turn in said housing, a lifting foot-lever rigid with said rock-shaft, a toggle-like coimeetio-n between said rock-shaft and the plow-beam, and a depressing foot-lever mounted on said housing and-adapted for some movement independently of said lifting lever, the two associated foot-levers being axially alined and having a lost-motion connection between them, whereby a portion rigid with the lifting foot-lever constitutes medium of connection through which motion is communicated from the depressing foot-lever to the plow.

A wheeled-plow comprising a bodyframe, supporting wheels, a plow and beam movably supported from the body-frame, a housing or bracket rigidly mounted upon the body-frame, a rock-shaft mounted to turn in said housing, a lifting foot-lever mounted on the housing or bracket and rigid with said rock-shaft, a toggle-like connection between said rock-shaft and the plow-beam, a deressing foot-lever also mounted on said iiousing or bracket and adapted for some movementindependently of the lifting lever, said de ressing lever being loose relatively to the roe shaft, and a locking device for looking theplow-bea'm in an elevated position, the said locking device being adapted to be unlocked by movement of the depressing leverth'e two associated foot-levers being axially alined and having a lost-motion connection between them, whereby a portion rigid with the lifting foot-lever constitutes medium of connection through which motion is communicated from the depressing foot-lever to the plow. I

4. A wheeled-plow comprising a bodyframe, supporting wheels, a bearing rigid with the body-frame, a plow and beam, a rock-shaft mounted in said bearing, a toggleconnection between the rocleshaft and the plow-beam, a lifting foot-lever rigid with the rockshaft, a depressing foot-lever mounted on the bearing and adapted for some movement independently of the lifting lever, and aeombined lifting and depressing spring connected to exert a pull upon a part rigid with the depressing lever, said spring being adapted to be shifted from lifting to depressing position, and vice versa, through the medium of the independent movement of the depressing lever the two associated foot-levers being axially alined and having alost-motion connection between them, whereby a portion rigid with the lifting foot-lever constitutes.

ing spring connected to exert a pull upon a portion rigid with thedepressing lever, such spring being adapted to be shifted from lifting to depressing position, and vice versa, through the medium of the independent movement of the depressing lever, and a hand-lever located at the left of said foot-levers and adapted for manipulating or controlling one of said. wheels relatively to the body-frame the two associated foot-levers being axially alined and having a lost-motion connection between them, whereby a portion rigid with the lifting foot-lever constitutes medium of connection through which motion is connnunicated from the depressing f oot-lever to the plow.

6. A wheeled-plow comprising a bod yframc a-bracket on the left side of the. frame a plow and beam, supporting wheels includ ing a land-side wheel, separated and suitably mounted lifting and depressing foot-levers carried by thelbracket on the body-frame, a connection between the plow-beam and the said lifting lever, a lost-motion connection between the two foot-levers, and a hand lever a lapted for manipulating said land-side wheel, the hand-lever being mounted between the land-side wheel and the foot-levers the two associated foot-levers being axially alined, and a portion rigid with the lifting foot-lever constituting medium of connection through which motion is communicated from the depressing foot-lever to the plow.

7. A wheeled-plow comprising a bodyframe, su porting wheels including alandside whee a plow and beam, a bearing mounted on the body-frame, lifting and depressing foot-levers separately mounted on said bearing, a lost-motion connection between said foot-levers, a toggle-connection between the lifting lever and the plow-beam, a combined lifting and depressing spring connected to exert a pull upon a ortion rigid with said depressing lever, an a hand-lever adapted for controlling the land-side wheel relatively to the body-frame, the said hand lever being mounted between the land-side wheel and the foot levers the two associated foot-levers being axially alined, and a portion rigid with the lifting foot-lever constituting medium of connection through which motion is communicatcd from the depressing foot-lever to the plow.

8. The improved wheeled plow with lifting and depressing foot levers mounted separately upon a bracket bearing secured rigidly to the frame of said plow the two associated loot-levers being axially alined and having a lost-motion connection between them, where-- by a portion rigid with the lifting foot-lever constitutes medium of connection through which motion is communicated from the depressing foot-lever to the plow.

9. The improved wheeled plow comprising a plow and beam supporting wheels, a rigid bracket and two levers mounted for more or less separate and independent operation, and supported separately upon the said bracket, substantially as described.

' Signed by me at Rock Island, Rock Island county, Illinois, this 27th day of. November,

- ALBERT B. FRENIER.

\Vitnesses:

H. B. ROSENBERG, (J. It. HULL. 

